Summary:
In his article, "Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising," Jack Solomon tells us about the strategies and methods Americans use in their advertisements. First, he starts off with the paradox contradiction with the American dream - communally egalitarian and competitively elitist. He argues that we cannot both be equally as a whole and superior than one another simultaneously. Advertisements also hold a status symbol, "signs that identify their possessors' place in social hierarchy," which means we can classify a person's social status based on the value or cost of something they have, like a car. Solomon also mentions another strategy, "living the fantasy" in which advertisers create consumer desire that remain unconscious. McDonald's successfully takes on America's subconscious fantasies. Another approach in advertising is "fear and trembling in the marketplace." This lets us know that besides dreams and desires, we also have nightmare and fear. Americans "fear of not belonging, of social rejection, of being different." Lastly, Solomon tells us about "the future of an illusion," where advertisements convince Americans to be seeing the real thing, not "advertising hype."
Response:
In response to "Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising," I'd say Solomon's article was very informative in stating the facts behind advertising. Initially, I did not know how advertisers made such approaches to get its consumers to purchase their products. Of all the methods Solomon stated, I can see a lot of advertisements that use "living the fantasy." Many commercials I watched use sports cars to fulfill American's fantasies. People look at these cars as "hot" or "sexy" and because "sex never fails as an attention-getter," this persuades them more into buying their product. Also, I feel that "fear" is a great tactic Americans use. A lot Americans always want to feel like they "belong" to something, otherwise they wouldn't fit in society. I think advertisers put that "if you don't have _____, you're missing out." It pressures us in having to buy their product in order to make us feel like we're up to date with everyone else. For those that aren't convinced with these strategies, I think they would fall under "the future of illusion" because this sign makes their advertisements seem more realistic.
